Microsoft will continue to provide support Windows 7 for some users despite the official software end of life rapidly approaching.
Business customers subscribing to certain versions of Windows 7 will be able to enjoy an extra year of support for the aged software, according to a recently-discovered official company FAQ.
Microsoft says the move will allow businesses more time to sort out their plans for migrating from Windows 7 to Windows 10 when support for the latter ends in a few months time.
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Supported
"Starting June 1st, EA and EAS customers with active subscription licenses to Windows 10 Enterprise E5, Microsoft 365 E5, or Microsoft 365 E5 Security (as of December 31, 2019) will get Windows 7 Extended Security Updates for Year 1 as a benefit," the document explained.
"With this limited-time promotion, you have more options to continue receiving Windows 7 security updates after end of support," it added, noting that customers will be able to receive their first year of patch support for Windows 7 free of charge.
The packages included in the offer cover companies that can support 500 or more licences, meaning they will mainly be larger enterprises. Anyone without the aforementioned subscription will also be able to continue receiving support, but will need to pay as much as $200 per licence per year.
Microsoft had previously said that it would pull support for Windows on January 14th 2020, after which date it will no longer provide regular security updates for the software.
The company has said it would be prepared to offer customised patching and support packages, but would charge heavily for doing so.
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Via: The Register
